This blog is sometimes about my second real library job, and sometimes about other stuff.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Cos I'll be busy on the weekend

So I'd better post something now, or risk this blog being yet another one that I started but didn't keep up to date and then it all got too hard and so I deleted the whole thing.

EXCEPT the creepy thing is that now I'm on the Google Blogger thing (I don't know what the deal is, could find out but I don't care that much) my past deleted blogs have come back to life! It's like my lack of commitment has come back to haunt me! If only my ex boyfriends could appreciate the irony. Anywaaaay...

I had meetings this week! Actual meetings with actual academics. I've had four so far, which I'm pleased with. They were varied, but none of them unpleasant. In some cases they were aware of most of the library things, just needed some more details, in other cases, well, I spoke to someone today who said that when he wasn't able to access the full text of a journal article he would just get another article instead. I asked if he had considered using the ILL/DD service, which he had never heard of. It's obvious there's been some people slipping through the cracks.

But these people are charming, and it's always wonderful to think that you may be having an impact on research that is important.

Responding to a comment from one of my loyal readers (I think I have two now!), so far I've not had problems contacting people, but that's because I have such a long list that if they don't answer the phone I just move on to the next one. This is the same for most of the newbie team members, but one of the more experienced ones had a great tip. See, she deals with the Faculty of Arts, and they share the same coffee cart that we do in the library (it really is a good coffee cart - who knew that coffee from a cart could be so good. They even have great pastries). She said that when she reaches the point where she just can't get a hold of anyone and starts to suspect that they're all avoiding her, she just goes and hangs out at the coffee cart, where she accosts them at their most vulnerable - caffeine deprived. Works a treat, she claims!

I'm not sure how that's going to work with my research centres being all over campus though. Yesterday I had two meetings, which I belatedly plotted on a map. They were at diagonally opposite ends of the campus - you really could not get two buildings that were both on campus that were further apart. Stupid big campus!

Tomorrow is a break from meetings (and writing reports on the meetings and setting up new meetings) - it's back to training. OHS stuff in the morning, something vital in the afternoon that has temporarily escaped me, and in between - heh - Dewey refresher course. We were told the other day that we'll all be doing little shifts helping students find stuff on the currently chaotic sixth floor over the next couple of months, which is fine, 'cept I had to point out to my boss that, well, the last time I used Dewey was when I attended uni last - 8 years ago now. I did my course by correspondence, and I didn't use Dewey in the last job. So for us newbies that came from somewhere heathen, Dewey refresher tomorrow, so we know just that little bit more than the students we're meant to be helping.